Dinner Party Weekend

If you didn't already know, I grew up on a vineyard. (Just to clarify, a vineyard is different than a winery. Wineries make wine, vineyards grow grapes. Many wineries have vineyards attached, but the terms aren't interchangeable. Our vineyard was grapes only.)

Not a bad view eh?

 My parents were friends with all sorts of wine folk, and they would have dinner parties almost every month. Sometimes that meant me and my brother had a babysitter, but sometimes the whole group would come to our house.

My mom and dad would get me a movie and stick me in their bedroom. I used to sneak out into the hallway and watch as my parents and their friends drank bottles of wine, and ate tons of food. There was always abundant laughter.

I always assumed that when I "Grew Up", that I would have dinner parties like that. In fact, when I moved into where I am living now, I bought a big table assuming that now that I was "Grown Up", that I would start having dinner parties just like my parents did.

That didn't really happen. I use that big table mainly for sewing, and I'm thankful that I have that space, even though it's not what I originally intended to do with it.

I mention all of this because it was my friend Chris's birthday this weekend, and we all went to his house for a New Orlean's style potluck. The food was amazing, there were baked beans, fried fish, cornbread, gumbo, mac and cheese and many more good things.

I realized that although I may not be having the dinner parties of my parent's day, I was having the same sort of social experience, just in a different form, which made me feel a little warm and fuzzy inside.

I don't remember my parents using paper plates, but I do remember them washing a lot of dishes!

Leslie made an awesome multi-color cake. 

This is the second picture of Leslie and cake I've had this year.

All and all, it was a fun birthday party.

No birthday is complete without beer and Light Bright.

 It was Chris's 21st birthday, so here he is celebrating the very first taste of alcohol he's ever had in his life. At least, that's what I'm going to assume.

I'd be more excited about the fruit garnish than the drink, but that's just me.

This weekend I also got my Project Modern quilt basted, and have been having mixed feelings about it ever since. I've gotten to a point in the project where I can't really look at it objectively anymore. I was lucky that my friend Jennifer came over to help me baste it, and she offered that critical eye on the placement of the arrows that I really needed.

I'm not sure what the rules are on help with the quilt, but I'm assuming a little help with the basting is okay. It's nice to have that extra pair of hands when laying out and taping down the quilt.

Jennifer and I put in the safety pins, and then I came back and closed them with the Kwik Klip, which honestly made everything so much easier on my hands. It was a good purchase.

I basted the quilt in the meeting room at my building, and got this "in process" shot of Jennifer. I was teasing her that I would just claim it was me in the photo so no one would know that she helped me baste it, but she wasn't to pleased with that. Then we tried to come up with reasons that she would be in that pose that wasn't basting, and she suggested that I say that she was overcome with the beauty of the quilt that she sat quietly weeping beside it.

And honestly, I wasn't there, so I can't prove that isn't what happened.